Luke 3:7-18
Does anyone know if the
war on Christmas is still going on? I’m just wondering. I haven’t been paying
much attention to it, so I’m not really up to speed on it. I would feel bad
about that – except that I don’t.
I am tired of this
particular war. I can’t work up any enthusiasm for it, frankly, because if you
want to know the truth I am more concerned about the war on Advent. You don’t
hear much about that one –probably because it has been so successful.
Seriously, when was the
last time you had anyone wish you a Happy Advent? How often do you see Advent
decorations or get visited by Advent carolers? Never?
It’s all “Christmas
this” and “Christmas that” – Christmas trees, Christmas carols, Christmas
movies. Even here in the church. The struggle is real, my friends. The war on
Advent is winning.
But today our friend
John the Baptist is in the fight, and he stands firmly on the side of Advent. Today,
Christmas will have to wait because John has a few things to say.
Last week John’s words
to us were a proclamation that he is coming, the Messiah, the one we have been
waiting for. He is coming, so prepare his way. Make a way for him, and all
flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord! Truly inspiring words.
But in the very next verse, his tone
changed dramatically, and he lashed out at the crowds: You brood of vipers! Who
warned you?
Confusing, yes? Because wasn’t it John
who just warned them that the Lord is coming and to prepare the way? Wasn’t
John just going about proclaiming this baptism of repentance and now shaming
those who have come forward to receive it?
What is going on here?
He seems to know something we do not
know. because he continues to berate them, saying, “Don’t just say we have
Abraham as our ancestor.” Don’t assume you can use Father Abraham as your
calling card or your get-out-of-jail-free card. Where and who you come from
will not matter in this dawning age. It is what you do that will matter more
than anything. “Bear fruits worthy of repentance,” he tells the crowds.
It really seems like he caught them at
a vulnerable moment – a moment when they have no defense against him. They
don’t take offense at his words. They don’t shout back at him, in an attempt to
defend themselves against his charges. They don’t walk away in a huff, saying “that’s
fine we’ll just go to the baptistry down the street, where they’re much nicer.”
None of that happens.
They simply stand before John and take
it. They are surprised, maybe hurt, probably dismayed. They were hoping for
baptism and instead they get fire and brimstone. And I think that is why they
say to John, “What then should we do?”
The crowds ask John, “What then should
we do?” You say we should bear fruit worthy of repentance; you say that we
should not look back to our ancestors to give us worth, but to bear good fruit.
How do we do that? What should we do?
The tax collectors, those reprobates
of Jewish society, also came to be baptized. These men who were already on the
margins of acceptability, the ones we love to hate, came along with everyone
else, looking for their salvation. And they say to John, “What should we do?”
Soldiers came, men who inspired fear
and dread among their own people; they too wanted the baptism John offered. And
they too say to John, “What should we
do?”
Everyone is looking to John for
direction. And John offers a response to each of them.
What should we do? Share what you
have, if you have more than you need.
What should we do? Take no more than
what you deserve; don’t steal from your people.
What should we do? Be content with
what you have; don’t add to the woes of the oppressed.
Can you see a pattern here?
You can almost imagine them coming
forward, approaching John one by one to receive the waters of baptism and
John’s words of direction. What should we do? they ask and John tells them as
explicitly as he is able. Because vague generalities won’t cut it. Grand
sweeping statements won’t fit the need. Because right now, at this moment,
there is a need for specificity.
The people need to know what they
should do.
It’s a question you may find yourself
asking as well. We all know that there is plenty that needs to be done.
We brace ourselves against the daily
news. There are children in Yemen who are starving to death and I see their
bodies in the papers and on my laptop screen. There are migrant children dying
as they come to us seeking refuge. There is so much pain in the world, much
more than we can alleviate. We avert our eyes because it is a degree of
suffering that we feel powerless against.
And we earnestly wonder, what should
we do?
There are a very few people who will
somehow rise to a level of prominence in the world that they may become an
influence on public policy – change the world. But for most of us, we operate
on a small scale.
We simply make decisions every day
about how we will use our time and our money. We make decisions to be kind or
not, to strive for empathy or not.
And even though it is true that the
world’s pain is enough to crush us, there is an answer to our question.
What should we do? We should bake pies
and cook for the soup kitchen. We should donate groceries to Lazarus. We should
help pack weekend backpacks for the at-risk children at Chipman.
What should we do? We should be kind
to the men and women who congregate around our building on Mondays and Fridays
when HOPE and the Seton Center Ministries opens their doors downstairs. We
should remember the words Jesus said to his disciples, that whenever you do
such kindnesses to one of the least of these my children, you do it for me.
What should we do? We should show up
on Sunday afternoons to help the Haitians in our community learn to speak
English. It’s a very hard thing, to learn a new language as an adult. But they
desperately want to master the language so they can have a future here, and
they need our help.
What should we do? We should visit the
sick, welcome the stranger, share what we have with others, especially with
those who need it. And this, John tells us, is the good news.
All of this – the caring and the
sharing and the welcoming – this is the good news.
This is the gospel. It is precise and
to the point. It is whatever kind of giving fits the need that is before us. It
involves listening, paying attention, caring, and sharing. This is the good
news of Jesus Christ.
It is nothing less than this. And I
think of these words from John when I recall a conversation I had with a young
college student years ago. He told me about a new church in town he was
attending. They were worshiping in the local elementary school on Sunday
evenings. I asked him to tell me what the church was like.
He said their whole focus is on
getting out the good news. They were young and struggling to get their footing
in the community, so they decided that it would be wise to just stick to the
fundamentals for the time being – to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, he
told me they don’t do anything else. They don’t do service, he told me, because
it is important for them to keep their focus on the good news.
But, I ask you, if you take away
service to others, what is left of the good news?
We need John during this time of the
year, to help us keep our focus on the season of Advent – the season of
preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ. It is the preparation we need,
to ask what then should we do? How shall we serve the Lord? What can we do to
prepare his way, make straight his path, lift every valley and make the rough
way smooth?
John, in all his roughness, gives us
some words of grace, telling us that it is in the small acts of kindness we are
all able to do, that we are addressing the brokenness of the world and carrying
bits of God’s love into the dark corners.
This is what we need Advent for, to
prepare the way for Christ by preparing our own hearts. So today Christmas will
have to wait a bit more. It is Advent, and we have some preparing to do.
Photo: John the Baptist surrounded by the crowds. By Pieter Brueghel the Younger - Art Renewal Center – description, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4817012
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